Multimodal State Circulation

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for managing dialogs. In one aspect, a method includes receiving a request to perform a task from a user device; obtaining a dialog corresponding to the task; providing multiple protocol buffers to the user device; receiving a voice input and one or more annotated protocol buffers from the user device, the one or more annotated protocol buffers identifying corresponding non-verbal responses to content in the protocol buffers; and using the received protocol buffers to update a state of the dialog and to interpret the voice input.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of, and claims priorityto, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/988,494, filed on Jan. 5, 2016,which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of the filing date ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/099,903, for “MultimodalState Circulation,” which was filed on Jan. 5, 2015. The disclosure ofthe foregoing applications are incorporated here by reference.

BACKGROUND

This specification relates to dialogs.

Conventional mobile devices can include software to respond to speech ofa user of the mobile device. The speech can typically includeinstructions to the mobile device to call a phone number, text a phonenumber, or search for information on the mobile device or the Internet.The software can provide audio output from the mobile device confirmingthe instructions, or can ask for clarifying information to complete aninstruction. The mobile device can provide the received speech to aserver system for processing, and receive information identifyingoperations to perform.

SUMMARY

In general, one innovative aspect of the subject matter described inthis specification can be embodied in methods that include the actionsof receiving a request to perform a task from a user device; obtaining adialog corresponding to the task; providing multiple protocol buffers tothe user device; receiving a voice input and one or more annotatedprotocol buffers from the user device, the one or more annotatedprotocol buffers identifying corresponding non-verbal responses tocontent in the protocol buffers; and using the received protocol buffersto update a state of the dialog and to interpret the voice input. Otherembodiments of this aspect include corresponding computer systems,apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computerstorage devices, each configured to perform the actions of the methods.For a system of one or more computers to be configured to performparticular operations or actions means that the system has installed onit software, firmware, hardware, or a combination of them that inoperation cause the system to perform the operations or actions. For oneor more computer programs to be configured to perform particularoperations or actions means that the one or more programs includeinstructions that, when executed by data processing apparatus, cause theapparatus to perform the operations or actions.

The foregoing and other embodiments can each optionally include one ormore of the following features, alone or in combination. In particular,one embodiment includes all the following features in combination. Eachprotocol buffer is a DialogTurnIntent (DTI). The received protocolbuffers identify an order of questions and non-verbal responses. Theorder of responses is used to provide context to interpret the voiceinput. The method includes providing one or more additional protocolbuffers to the user device in response to updating the state of thedialog following the voice input. The multiple protocol buffersencompass the entire dialog for the task. The method includes completingthe task once the dialog values are determined.

In general, one innovative aspect of the subject matter described inthis specification can be embodied in methods that include the actionsof receiving a user input to perform a task; providing the voice inputto a dialog system; receiving multiple protocol buffers for the dialog;presenting a first prompt for a first protocol buffer to the user;receiving a non-verbal response to the first prompt; updating a state ofthe dialog with the response and presenting a second prompt for a nextprotocol buffer to the user; receiving a voice input in response to thesecond prompt; and providing the voice input and the first and secondprotocol buffers to the dialog system. Other embodiments of this aspectinclude corresponding computer systems, apparatus, and computer programsrecorded on one or more computer storage devices, each configured toperform the actions of the methods. For a system of one or morecomputers to be configured to perform particular operations or actionsmeans that the system has installed on it software, firmware, hardware,or a combination of them that in operation cause the system to performthe operations or actions. For one or more computer programs to beconfigured to perform particular operations or actions means that theone or more programs include instructions that, when executed by dataprocessing apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the operations oractions.

The foregoing and other embodiments can each optionally include one ormore of the following features, alone or in combination. In particular,one embodiment includes all the following features in combination. Themultiple DTIs are received as part of a resource set that indicates anorder of alternative DTIs. Presenting the first prompt for the first DTIincludes providing a user interface associated with the first prompt towhich the user can input the non-verbal response. Updating the state ofthe dialog includes annotating the corresponding DTI with the receivednon-verbal response.

Particular embodiments of the subject matter described in thisspecification can be implemented so as to realize one or more of thefollowing advantages. A user can respond to dialog questions with bothvoice responses and non-verbal inputs. The state of a dialog can bemaintained locally on a user device during execution and updated fornon-verbal responses. The state information is sent as a bundle to adialog system to update the state of the dialog. Maintaining the statelocally for non-verbal responses reduces the latency and number of datatransmissions to and from the dialog system. In addition, the size ofdata transmissions can be reduced during the dialog process. In someimplementations, maintaining and calculating the state locally insteadof at the dialog system can maintain state data about private data,e.g., contact information, without actually sending the data to thedialog system. Maintaining state locally is also useful in maintainingconsistency in the dialog when the user's dialog system access maychange during the dialog, for example, by moving between cell towerswhile driving.

The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter describedin this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of thesubject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings,and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example system for managing a multimodal dialog.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example process for managing a multimodaldialog.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example process for managing a multimodaldialog.

Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicatelike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Users can provide voice instructions to a device to perform a particulartask, for example, generating a calendar item, place a call or text, orsearch for particular information. Performing the task, by the device orby a system in communication with the device, can be driven by aconversational dialog that asks the user questions for one or morevalues needed to complete the task, analogous to filling out fields of aform.

For example, a sample dialog for a calendar task can be:

User: [create a meeting with Dave]

Device/system: What day?

User/system: [tomorrow]

Device/system: What time?

User: [Three O'clock]

Device/system: I've generated a meeting with Dave for tomorrow at 3:00.

In some implementations, a given dialog is multimodal such that a usercan provide a combination of speech and one or more manual non-verbalinputs in response to a dialog question. A visual user interface can bepresented to a user of a user device that is correlated with the spokenquestions presented from the dialog. For example, a sample dialog for acalendar task can be:

User: [create a meeting with Dave]

Device/system: What day?

*User manually enters a date for tomorrow, e.g., using a touch input*

Device/system: What time?

User: [Three O'clock]

Device/system: I've generated a meeting with Dave for tomorrow at 3:00.

One or more questions of the dialog can be answered with non-verbalinteractions to the user device, for example, using a touchscreen,mouse, keyboard, or other suitable input. The voice commands and thenon-verbal commands may overlap but are not necessarily the same. Forexample, a user can cancel a command with the voice input [cancel] or bya particular swiping motion in the presented user interface. However,there may not be a voice command equivalent for every possiblenon-verbal input to the user interface.

The dialog has a particular state identifying the current position inthe dialog. In some implementations, this state is maintained on asystem that processes the received voice inputs. For example, the userdevice can transmit voice inputs from the user to a system, e.g., usingone or more networks. The system can process the voice input torecognize the received command and update the dialog. Thus, the statecan be updated with receipt of the voice input. However, non-verbalinteractions with the user interface are executed locally on the userdevice and may not be immediately provided to the server. Thisspecification describes techniques for managing a multimodal dialog thatreceives both voice and non-verbal inputs to a dialog.

FIG. 1 is an example system 100 for managing a multimodal dialog. Thesystem 100 includes a user 102, a user device 104, and a dialog system106. The user device 104 and the dialog system 106 care in communicationthough a network 103, e.g., the internet. The user device 104 can be oneof a number of suitable devices including a mobile device, a wearablecomputer, a tablet, a hybrid, a laptop, or desktop computer. The userdevice 104 receives interactions, both verbal, e.g., voice inputs, andnon-verbal from the user 102. In particular, the user device 104includes a microphone 108 configured to receive voice inputs from theuser 102. The user device 104 can also include one or more speakersconfigured to broadcast dialog questions in response to received userrequest. Only a single user device is shown for clarity. However, therecan be many user devices associated with corresponding distinct users.Each of these user devices can be in communication with the dialogsystem 106 through the network 103.

The user device further includes a user interface 110. The userinterface 110 can present information to the user including some or allof content associated with a dialog in response to a user request. Thedialog 112 defines a number of questions for values needed to perform atask requested by the user. In some implementations, the dialog isgoverned by a frame generated for the task. Particular questions orother content of the dialog 112 can be presented to the user in aparticular order, for example, though a sequence of audio questionsbroadcast by the one or more speakers or displayed in the user interface110. The dialog 112 also maintains a local state of the dialog. Thisrefers to the current location in the dialog, e.g., which question isbeing asked of the user 102. This may or may not match the state of thedialog maintained on the dialog system 106, as discussed in greaterdetail below.

The dialog system 106 can be one or more computing resources, e.g., oneor more computing systems, or virtual machines executing on one or morecomputing systems, in communication with the user device 104 through thenetwork 103. The dialog system 106 includes a dialog management engine114 and a speech analysis engine 116.

The speech analysis engine 116 can use a suitable speech-to-text processis used to convert the received voice inputs 118 into a text string. Thespeech analysis engine 116 can also parse the audio to identify one ormore meanings, e.g., by generating a parse tree. The meaning of theaudio can be used to identify a particular task to perform in responseto a received request as well as determining the meaning of answer toparticular dialog questions for the task.

The dialog management engine 114 manages one or more dialogs associatedwith a requested task. This includes maintaining a state of the dialog,e.g., what question is being answered, so that the speech analysisengine 116 can properly interpret received audio associated with thedialog. In particular, the accuracy of the speech analysis engine 116 incorrectly interpreting the received audio can be improved by knowingwhat type of response is asked of the user 102. Otherwise, the speechanalysis engine 116 may interpret the received speech as unrelated tothe dialog, in which case an error response can be returned, or arequest for a new task, e.g., a search based on the content of thereceived speech.

To maintain the state, the dialog management engine 114 provides a datastructure that encodes what question in the dialog is being asked of theuser 102 as well as the type of information the dialog system 106 isrequesting from the user 102 in response. In some implementations, thisinformation is encoded in a protocol buffer referred to in thisspecification as a DialogTurnIntent (“DTI”). For convenience, DTI willbe used throughout, but other suitable encoded data structures can beused.

For example, in a dialog for a task of composing an e-mail message, onequestion of the dialog can be a request for a subject of the e-mail. Thedialog management engine 114 can create a DTI where the question to theuser is a prompt for a subject. The DTI is sent to the user device 104where it can be presented to the user 102, for example, as a visualquestion in the user interface, e.g., “What is the subject?” or as anaudio question emitted from the speakers e.g., “What would you like thesubject to be?”

The dialog management engine 114 can send 120 more than one DTI to theuser device 102. In particular, the DTIs can include not only thecurrent prompt to the user, but other DTIs related to other fieldsnecessary to complete the dialog for the requested task. For example,when the dialog management engine 114 sends the “prompt for subject” DTIit can also send a DTI for a subsequent question in the dialog, e.g., a“prompt for message body” DTI as an alternative DTI.

In some implementations, an encapsulation sent by the dialog system 106to the user device 104 including DTIs for filling out a form (e.g., thevisual interface presented to the user 102 with fields to fill in) isrepresented as follows:

Response { [Audio File Of Prompt To Play] [Current Form And Contents ToRender (field names and contents, like “Recipient” and “John Smith”respectively] DialogTurnIntent { [Current state of the dialog, with datanot otherwise contained the “Current Form and Contents To Render”][Possible state of the dialog, to visit if the user engages in sometouch interaction] } }

The user device 104 does not immediately present one of the one or morealternative DTI prompts to the user 102. Instead, whether or not analternative DTI prompt is presented depends on the local state of thedialog 112 at the user device 104. In particular, if a user 102 answersthe first DTI, e.g., “prompt for subject” DTI, using a non-verbal input,the local state of the dialog is updated to the next field of the dialogand the alternative DTI prompt can be presented. Because the alternativeDTI was provided with the first DTI, the alternative DTI is presentedwithout a roundtrip message path to the dialog system 106.

Whenever the user 102 provides a voice input in response to a dialogquestion, the corresponding one or more DTIs are returned to the dialogsystem 106 with the voice input 122. The DTI is annotated with the userresponses and the manner of the responses, e.g., voice vs. non-verbal.The dialog management engine 114 can therefore update the state of thedialog to the current question being answered by the voice input andinform the speech analysis engine 116 of the question being answered sothat speech analysis engine 116 can properly interpret the speech inputand provide an appropriate response. The dialog management engine 114can generate additional DTIs to send to the user device 104 as needed.

In some implementations, the encapsulation of the content send to thedialog system 106 in response to the user voice input is represented asfollows:

Request { [Audio File of User Input] [Current Form And Contents,Including Latest Touch Input] DialogTurnIntents { [State of the dialogthat was visited due to touch interaction, if any] [“Current” state ofthe dialog as provided by the Response] } }

If the user doesn't engage in any touch interaction then the user device104 will only echo back the “Current” state (the last state known to thedialog system 106) and not the “Possible” states not visited. The audioprompts sent to the user device as well as the audio of the voice inputsfrom the user are not part of the DTIs themselves. However, in someother implementations, the DTIs can include additional content, forexample, the form itself, particular fields of the dialog, etc.

The dialog 112 on the user device 104 can save each DTI answered usingnon-verbal input so that if the user 102 later issues a voice responsethe user device 104 can send a bundle of DTIs that have been answeredsince the last communication with the dialog system 106. The bundledDTIs provide an order to the user responses so that commands that dependon prior responses can be properly understood. For example, if the voiceinput is a command to “undo that” or “change it to seven” correcting aprior response, the ordered DTIs allow the dialog system 106 todetermine which response the voice command is referring to.

In some implementations, the dialog system 106 provides the user device104 with a list of DTIs in the order that the user device 104 shouldprompt for input to provide values for dialog fields if the userprovides input by touch or other non-verbal input. The user device 104can then bundle the DTIs in the order that have been answered by theuser 102 for transmission to the dialog system 106 with the next voiceresponse. For example, if the user 102 uses a touch input to provide anEnd Time for an event in response to a prompt, then uses a touch inputto provide a Subject for the event, and then touches a microphone toinput the next response, the bundle of DTIs sent to the dialog system106 can include the Subject DTI, then the End Time DTI, then the“current” DTI last. The bundle of DTIs provides a list of all the statesthe user visited since the dialog system was last consulted, with mostrecent states first, ending with the most recent state that the dialogsystem knows about. The ordering helps the system correctly interpretthe user's input.

In some implementations, only a specified number of alternative DTIs issent at a time to the user device 102. This can be described by aResourceSet sent to the user device, for example, as follows:

ResourceSet { optional FormattedValue display_prompt = 1; optionalFormattedValue vocalized_prompt = 2; optional UserTurnFeaturepresented_user_turn_feature = 3; }

Sending only a specified number of DTIs allows for greater control ofthe amount of data being sent at a time as well as sending only the DTIthat are immediately needed to continue the dialog after a non-verbalresponse.

In some other implementations, DTIs for the entire dialog are sent tothe user device 102. This can be described by a ResourceSet sent to theuser device, for example, as follows:

ResourceSet { optional FormattedValue display_prompt = 1; optionalFormattedValue vocalized_prompt = 2; optional DialogTurnIntentpresented_dialog_turn_intent = 3; }

Sending the entire accumulated DTIs since the last transmission to thedialog system allows more flexibility on the client side to continue thedialog particularly in response to more than one non-verbal response.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example process 200 for managing amultimodal dialog. For convenience, the process 200 will be described asbeing performed by a system of one or more computers, located in one ormore locations, and programmed appropriately in accordance with thisspecification. For example, a dialog system, e.g., the dialog system 106of FIG. 1, appropriately programmed, can perform the process 200.

The system receives a request to perform a task (202). The request canbe received as a voice input provided by a user to a user device or amanual input to the user device, e.g., user device 104 of FIG. 1. Thetask can be, for example, generating a calendar item, generating ane-mail, placing a call or text, or search for particular information.

The system processed the request and generates a dialog for thecorresponding task (202). For a voice request, the system can processthe voice input to determine the meaning of the input, e.g., parsing theaudio to identify a particular request. The system then obtains a dialogthat corresponds to the task, e.g., from a repository of task specificdialogs or generated from a template. The dialog provides a structurefor determining a number of values needed to complete the task. Forexample, a calendar meeting task can include fields for a person toinvite, a date, a time, and a place for the meeting. The values forthese are requested according to the dialog. In particular, DTIs can begenerated that request values according to a particular order.

The system sends multiple DTIs to the user device (206). The DTIs can beencoded in a data structure that identifies an order to the DTIs, forexample, a primary DTI and one or more alternative DTIs having an orderaccording to the dialog for the task. A prompt associated with aparticular alternative DTI can be presented to the user in response to anon-verbal user input responding to the immediately preceding DTI in theorder.

The system receives a voice input plus one or more DTIs from the userdevice (208). The one or more DTIs identify dialog prompts that the userresponded to prior to the current DTI associated with the voice input.Thus, the DTIs provide a record of the current state of the dialogincluding the responses received to earlier prompts as well as the orderand mode in which the responses were received by the user device.

The system uses the DTIs to update the state of the dialog and tointerpret the voice input (210). For example, the DTIs are used toupdate the state of the dialog at the system so that the system candetermine a next portion of the dialog to receive responses to, oralternatively, a next set of DTIs to send to the user device.Additionally, the updated state provides context to the analysis of thevoice input such that it can be properly interpreted. This includes theorder of responses to the DTIs for interpreting voice responses thatrefer to prior responses.

The system stores responses in the dialog (212). For each completed DTI,including the analyzed voice input, the resulting values can be storedin the dialog. The system can determine whether there are additionalvalues needed or whether the dialog is complete. If there are additionalvalues needed one or more additional DTIs may be sent to the user deviceor the system may wait for additional responses from the user device. Ifthere are no additional values needed, the system can complete the task,for example, by generating a calendar entry or e-mail message (214). Thecompleted task can be sent to the user device for approval before beingexecuted or can be automatically performed.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example process 300 for managing amultimodal dialog. For convenience, the process 300 will be described asbeing performed by a device and programmed appropriately in accordancewith this specification. For example, a user device, e.g., the userdevice 104 of FIG. 1, appropriately programmed, can perform the process300.

The device receives a user voice input to perform a task (302). Theinput can be received for example, in response to a user voice commandspoken to the device and captured by a microphone on the device. In someimplementations, the user provides an input to the device indicatingthat they are going to submit a voice command, e.g., by selecting aparticular user interface element.

The device sends the voice input to a dialog system (304), e.g., dialogsystem 106 of FIG. 1. In some implementations, the device can parse theaudio of the voice input to identify one or more meanings, e.g., bygenerating a parse tree, and provide the parsed audio as the request tothe dialog system. Alternatively, the device can provide the voice inputto the dialog system, and the dialog system can parse the audio toidentify the request. The request identifies the task, e.g., generate acalendar event, generate a reminder, provide information to the user,and so on.

The device receives multiple DTIs for the dialog (306). The DTIs can beencoded in a data structure that identifies an order to the DTIs, forexample, a primary DTI and one or more alternative DTIs having an orderaccording to the dialog for the task.

The device presents a dialog prompt for a first DTI to the user (308).The prompt is a particular question designed to elicit a responsecorresponding to a needed value of the dialog. For example, whengenerating an e-mail message, the first DTI may prompt the user toprovide a subject of the e-mail message with a question such as “what isthe subject?” The prompt can be presented in a user interface or as anaudio output form the device.

The device receives a non-verbal response to the first DTI (310). Thenon-verbal response to the device, for example, can be provided using atouchscreen, mouse, keyboard, or other suitable input. For example, theuser can type in a subject for the e-mail instead of providing a voiceresponse.

The device updates the local state of the dialog and presents a dialogprompt for the next DTI to the user (312). The device stores the replyand identifies the next DTI in the dialog without sending data about thereceived reply to the dialog system.

The device receive a voice response to the next DTI (314). The devicethen provides the voice response to the dialog system along with thepreceding DTIs answered since the last voice input was sent to thedialog system (316). Each of the DTIs include their respective responsesand the mode of response. While in this example, there is only one priorDTI (the first DTI), there may be several DTI prompts presented andanswered by the user before a voice input is received. These can bebundled together and sent with the voice response to the dialog system.

If the device has additional DTIs available for prompting the user, thedevice presents the prompt for the next DTI to the user. If there are noadditional DTIs available, the device can wait for a response from thedialog system. The response from the dialog system can includeadditional DTIs for the dialog or an indication of a completed task. Insome implementations, the device presents a summary of the completedtask values to the user, e.g., a draft e-mail or calendar entry, forconfirmation before the task is executed.

In in this specification the term “engine” will be used broadly to referto a software based system or subsystem that can perform one or morespecific functions. Generally, an engine will be implemented as one ormore software modules or components, installed on one or more computersin one or more locations. In some cases, one or more computers will bededicated to a particular engine; in other cases, multiple engines canbe installed and running on the same computer or computers.

Embodiments of the subject matter and the operations described in thisspecification can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or incomputer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structuresdisclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents, or incombinations of one or more of them. Embodiments of the subject matterdescribed in this specification can be implemented as one or morecomputer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer programinstructions, encoded on computer storage medium for execution by, or tocontrol the operation of, data processing apparatus.

Alternatively or in addition, the program instructions can be encoded onan artificially-generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generatedelectrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated toencode information for transmission to suitable receiver apparatus forexecution by a data processing apparatus. A computer storage medium canbe, or be included in, a computer-readable storage device, acomputer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memoryarray or device, or a combination of one or more of them. Moreover,while a computer storage medium is not a propagated signal, a computerstorage medium can be a source or destination of computer programinstructions encoded in an artificially-generated propagated signal. Thecomputer storage medium can also be, or be included in, one or moreseparate physical components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, orother storage devices).

The operations described in this specification can be implemented asoperations performed by a data processing apparatus on data stored onone or more computer-readable storage devices or received from othersources.

The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all kinds of apparatus,devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example aprogrammable processor, a computer, a system on a chip, or multipleones, or combinations, of the foregoing The apparatus can includespecial purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gatearray) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). Theapparatus can also include, in addition to hardware, code that createsan execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g.,code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, a cross-platform runtimeenvironment, a virtual machine, or a combination of one or more of them.The apparatus and execution environment can realize various differentcomputing model infrastructures, such as web services, distributedcomputing and grid computing infrastructures.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, or code) can be written in any form of programminglanguage, including compiled or interpreted languages, declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, object, orother unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram may, but need not, correspond to a file in a file system. Aprogram can be stored in a portion of a file that holds other programsor data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup languagedocument), in a single file dedicated to the program in question, or inmultiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store one or more modules,sub-programs, or portions of code). A computer program can be deployedto be executed on one computer or on multiple computers that are locatedat one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by acommunication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable processors executing one or morecomputer programs to perform actions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application-specific integrated circuit).

Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, andany one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for performing actions in accordance with instructions andone or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Generally,a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive datafrom or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices forstoring data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks.However, a computer need not have such devices. Moreover, a computer canbe embedded in another device, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or video player, a game console,a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, or a portable storage device(e.g., a universal serial bus (USB) flash drive), to name just a few.Devices suitable for storing computer program instructions and datainclude all forms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices,including by way of example semiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM,EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal harddisks or removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROMdisks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, orincorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented on a computerhaving a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquidcrystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and akeyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by whichthe user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices canbe used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input fromthe user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a user bysending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is usedby the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on auser's client device in response to requests received from the webbrowser.

Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can beimplemented in a computing system that includes a back-end component,e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g.,an application server, or that includes a front-end component, e.g., aclient computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browserthrough which a user can interact with an implementation of the subjectmatter described in this specification, or any combination of one ormore such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The componentsof the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digitaldata communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples ofcommunication networks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a widearea network (“WAN”), an inter-network (e.g., the Internet), andpeer-to-peer networks (e.g., ad hoc peer-to-peer networks).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. In someembodiments, a server transmits data (e.g., an HTML page) to a clientdevice (e.g., for purposes of displaying data to and receiving userinput from a user interacting with the client device). Data generated atthe client device (e.g., a result of the user interaction) can bereceived from the client device at the server.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyinventions or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions offeatures specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions.Certain features that are described in this specification in the contextof separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in asingle embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described inthe context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multipleembodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more featuresfrom a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from thecombination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described.Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In somecases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a differentorder and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallelprocessing may be advantageous.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving a request from auser device to perform a task; obtaining a dialog corresponding to thetask; providing multiple protocol buffers associated with the dialog tothe user device; receiving a voice input response and one or moreannotated protocol buffers from the user device, the one or moreannotated protocol buffers identifying corresponding non-verbalresponses to content in the corresponding protocol buffers; and usingthe received protocol buffers to update a state of the dialog and tointerpret the voice input.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein eachprotocol buffer is a DialogTurnIntent (DTI).
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the received protocol buffers identify an order of questions andnon-verbal responses.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the order ofresponses is used to provide context to interpret the voice input. 5.The method of claim 1, comprising: providing one or more additionalprotocol buffers to the user device in response to updating the state ofthe dialog following the voice input.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinthe multiple protocol buffers encompass the entire dialog for the task.7. The method of claim 1, comprising: completing the task once valuesfor the dialog are determined based on user inputs responsive toquestions provided by the multiple protocol buffers.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein completing the task includes providing a calendar itemgenerated using the values of the dialog.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the dialog indicates particular values needed to complete thetask and the state of the dialog identifies a current position in thedialog.
 10. A method comprising: receiving a user input to perform atask; providing the voice input to a dialog system; receiving multipleprotocol buffers for the dialog; presenting a first prompt for a firstprotocol buffer to the user; receiving a non-verbal response to thefirst prompt; updating a local state of the dialog with the response andpresenting a second prompt for a next protocol buffer to the user;receiving a voice input in response to the second prompt; and providingthe voice input and the first and second protocol buffers to the dialogsystem.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the multiple protocolbuffers are received as part of a resource set that indicates an orderof alternative protocol buffers.
 12. The method of claim 10, whereinpresenting the first prompt for the first protocol buffer includesproviding a user interface associated with the first prompt to which theuser can input the non-verbal response.
 13. The method of claim 10,wherein updating the local state of the dialog includes annotating thecorresponding protocol buffer with the received non-verbal response. 14.The method of claim 10, wherein the user input to perform a task is auser input to generate a calendar item.
 15. The method of claim 10,further comprising: receiving a calendar item that includes valuespopulated using the received voice input and non-verbal response. 16.The method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving one or moreadditional protocol buffers for the dialog from the dialog system; andpresenting a first prompt for a first additional protocol buffer to theuser.
 17. A system comprising: one or more computers and one or morestorage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed bythe one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to performoperations comprising: receiving a request from a user device to performa task; obtaining a dialog corresponding to the task; providing multipleprotocol buffers associated with the dialog to the user device;receiving a voice input response and one or more annotated protocolbuffers from the user device, the one or more annotated protocol buffersidentifying corresponding non-verbal responses to content in thecorresponding protocol buffers; and using the received protocol buffersto update a state of the dialog and to interpret the voice input.